Caborn says FA must act on crowd trouble

After a turbulent week for football, the Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, says it is time to make sure the national sport does not return to the dark ages.

In the wake of crowd trouble at Cardiff and Chelsea, Caborn, a former director of Sheffield United, has welcomed the Football Association's promise to investigate and urged swift action.

"Football has come a long way since the dark days of the 1980s," he said. "It can genuinely claim to be a family game. The incidents of the last couple of weeks are serious. But I think what is needed is some cold analysis of what is wrong and what needs to be done. The football authorities must lead that – they are the guardians of their game's reputation. They need to act quickly, but not hastily."

A Premier League spokes-man said: "There has been a huge decline in arrests and ejections due to the improve-ment in facilities and crowd control. However, we cannot and must not be complacent, and the Premier League and its clubs take their responsibilities in this area very seriously indeed."